Bonus Epilogue
Stone
There was a person in my bed.
Scratch that, a woman person.
Woman.
There was a woman in my bed.
My brain stutter-stepped over her bare feet, the deep blue of her pants, the way she folded into a v-shape with her middle making the dip and her feet and head the peaks.
Her blond waves spilling over my pillowcase and the way one petite arm tucked under my pillow— my pillow—and… her face.
I swallowed, bouncing my eyes away.
Bear sniffed along the bed gently enough he didn’t wake her. He whined slightly, expressing concern.
Pressing a hand to his head, I reassured him without a sound. Bodies in repose concerned him, thanks to our past. But she was fine. I’d seen her breathing when I first walked in.
“We’re fine,” I mumbled low.
Another hard swallow, then I took in her delicate features. Brow relaxed, straight slope down to her pert nose, darker lashes fanned against her cheeks. Pink lips closed, a cupid’s bow like a soft kiss. Pale skin with enough color to signal life, even in the dim light coming from the hallway.
No need to see her open those eyes to know their color—a brilliant blue hid behind her lids which were moving a bit now.
She wasn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to be next door in the apartment above the garage. How she’d ended up not only in my house but in my bed?
Maybe Kenny was behind this, though he wouldn’t have done this to her.
Just as I had the thought, Bear shifted, and his tags clinked together. Dove’s eyes fluttered, then opened. She blinked long and slow, and she scrubbed at her eyes like they might be blurry.
I stood in the corner like a hulking creep in the shadows hoping to give her enough space, not sure if I should run away, or stick it out and see what had brought her here— here . I forced my gaze away, knowing nothing had changed since I’d seen her a dozen times before. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever laid eyes on.
She stirred, turned, and gasped, sitting up and scrambling around until she came to her feet.
And then she screamed bloody murder.
* * *